


and death, in his shame

by Murf1307



Category: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Empty caskets, Funerals, M/M, not a fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 17:26:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11764785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: In a version of the story where Darwin is the Horseman of Death, Alex Summers still dies.





	and death, in his shame

He looks at himself in the mirror, the changed face still new to him -- his eyes are pure white, now, and there's not a single bit of hair left on his body, and, in his opinion, he looks like an unfinished doll or an old, old statue.

He passes his hand backward over the smooth curve of his bare head, and turns to leave the safety of this room.

Apocalypse destroyed almost all he had to live for, dragging him from death's embrace in order to make him _into_ Death, foremost among the Horsemen, and first to be "made." He alone drew close to Apocalypse's power, and now, deep down in his bones, he knows that he will outlive the monster that changed him.

"Darwin?" Raven -- Mystique, now, of course -- says from a little ways down the hall. "I was just coming to get you. It's...it's time for the service."

He'd debated not going, the thrum of memory too loud in his heart, but he finds he has to.

He has to say goodbye.

"Yeah," he says, and follows her out to the little cemetery plot on the edge of school grounds. His own memorial marker stands here -- nothing buried, of course, because there hadn't _been_ anything to bury -- but beside it, an open grave awaits another empty casket.

Another explosion, another outstretched hand, another stolen moment of heroism.

Armando can't look Scott in the eye, can't take his eyes _off_ the casket, and can't help but approach it. He lays a hand on it, and while he doesn't know if he believes in any gods, he wishes he understood the afterlife the way he now understands death.

He can feel the silence pressing in around him, people watching him mourn.

"Alex," he murmurs, softly. "You were never meant to be a soldier."


End file.
